10/8/2015

The history of Morling College "For the Highest" written by former
Principal Rev. Dr. Vic Eldridge is now available.
There is a softcover version for $25 or a hardcover version for $48 plus postage of $9.

Contact the Archivist of Baptist History of NSW Society at
Morling College
120 Herring Road
Macquarie Park 2113

Next Meeting Saturday 10 th February 2018 John McKaeg - Barbara Coe

20/1/2018

The life of Rev John McKaeg, the first Baptist minister in Sydney, has for the most part been unknown other than the period of his study at the Baptist Academy at Horton, Yorkshire and his subsequent brief ministries in Ireland, Bingley in Yorkshire, and Sydney.
His ministry in Sydney ended in 1833. Although there has been much speculation, apart from a period in the debtors’ prison in Sydney in 1835, nothing more has been known of him. Recent documents have shown further details of McKaeg’s life including his marriage, his children, and his death in Sydney in 1851.

‘A very babe in grace’ was how The Sydney Monitor described John McKaeg 18 months after his arrival in Sydney. ‘Poorly educated, histrionic, impulsive, gambling, drunken McKaeg’ is how Ken Manley and Michael Petras described him some 150 years later. While recent research has revealed more details about his life, these descriptions are still not far from the mark.
The life of McKaeg, the first Baptist minister in Sydney, has for the most part been unknown other than the period of his study at the Baptist Academy at Horton, Yorkshire and his subsequent brief ministries in Ireland, Bingley in Yorkshire, and Sydney. His ministry in Sydney ended in 1833 and apart from a period in the debtors’ prison in Sydney in 1835, nothing more has been known of him, although much speculation has been made. Recent documents have come to light showing details of his life and family, including his death in 1851.
McKaeg had a troubled career, the origins of which were apparent even before he arrived in Australia in 1830. He had a very popular early ministry in Ireland, which suggests that he was more successful in his early days there than he was accepted by his more conservative peers, did not endear him to the general population and the Sydney press did not help his cause.